The Amortentia Accident
by writeringoodfaith
Summary: MLB/HP AU: How to excel at fifth year by Marinette Dupain-Cheng. Step 1. In potions class, brew some amortentia, the most powerful love potion in the world. Step 2. Steal some for your own personal use, cos it's totally normal to sniff it in your spare time. Step 3. Accidentally narcotize your unsuspecting crush. Wait - what? (Companion piece to The Ladybug Patronus)


In a lot of ways, potions and baking were much the same. Both required following instructions, but true potioneers - just like true bakers - knew when and how to tweak the recipe to bring out a better result. With her tongue sticking out the side of her mouth, Marinette carefully stirred her cauldron until the steam emanating from the top began to swirl slightly. She cried out with delight when she noticed the swirling pattern. It was done! Looking around the dungeon classroom revealed she was the only one who had succeeded so far. Some were bearing their failures better than others. Chloe was currently yelling at her cauldron.

She leaned forward to breathe in the fumes of her love potion. Love potion in honour of Valentine's Day on Friday. Honestly, the curriculum was just a tad ridiculous sometimes. But she'd never smelt amortentia before and she had always wondered what amortentia would smell like for her. It was supposed to remind her of the things she loved. As she inhaled she recognised the tantalising scent of torched sugar on creme brulee, and some kind of strong cheese she remembered loving from her visits to her grandparents in Paris. A third scent, intermingled amongst the two other food smells made her straighten up in her chair as her eyes wandered to the seat in front of her where a familiar blonde-haired boy sat. The third scent, she couldn't put a finger on it, but it reminded her of him. It was the scent of him removing his sweater, the scent of him up close, her hand in his as he demonstrated to her how to correctly handle a broomstick. It was the scent of Friday night patrol as they walked together, her edging as close to him as possible without knocking into him (and sometimes knocking into him anyway) on the hunt for students who should be in bed or any lost first-years. Swiftly, Marinette got a vial out and filled it with her brewed amortentia. This was a smell that she wanted access to after potion class. She had just put the vial into an inner pocket of her robes when the professor drifted over to her station to peer at her cauldron.

'What a lovely mother of pearl sheen!' Professor Mendeleiev exclaimed. 'Well done, Marinette. 10 points to Slytherin for a feat of talented potion work.'

Marinette smiled and ducked her head at the praise. 'Thank you, Professor.'

Professor Mendeleiev nodded at her before moving on. When she got to the front of the classroom, she called out, 'A few words of warning before departing. Most of you failed at brewing amortentia today. Don't be discouraged, it is a very difficult potion. And the most dangerous potion in the world.'

A loud snort was heard in the classroom, coming from Chloe's direction.

Professor Mendeleiev continued, unperturbed, 'They call amortentia the love potion. But it does not produce love, only infatuation, and an infatuation so blinding it could also be termed an obsession. A single dose can last up to 24 hours. So be careful with it! It is a banned substance at Hogwarts, so I'll be checking everyone's cauldrons have been vanished before you leave.'

There was a little niggling feeling of guilt, situated with Marinette's vial of stolen amortentia in her left top robe pocket but she waved it away. It wasn't like she was actually going to give it to Adrien or anything. She just wanted to smell it. She smiled brightly as Professor Mendeleiev passed by her empty cauldron. It would be fine.

* * *

'Are you on crack?'

'What?!' Marinette looked up from her notes in the library. 'No!'

'I saw you take a vial out and sniff it. That's weird behaviour, even for you,' said Alya.

Oh. Marinette didn't realise she had done that. It had kind of become a force of habit. Feeling sad? Get a sniff of amortentia to cheer up. Fall into a thinking rut? Turn to love in a bottle for some inspiration.

Sheepishly, she took out her vial and showed it to Alya. 'I nicked it from potions.'

Alya raised an eyebrow.

'It's amortentia.' She handed it over.

Alya opened the vial and watched in awe as little steaming spirals rose from the glistening mother of pearl surface. 'Girl, your love potion is perfect! I'd be proud of this too if I were you.'

Marinette grinned. 'Thanks, Alya.'

'Although I think you may have taken it a step too far. You're sniffing it like a drug addict.'

Marinette didn't deign to give that a response. Instead she asked, 'What does it smell like for you?'

'Why, that's a very personal question,' replied Alya as she laughed. She slowly inhaled the potion's steam. 'It actually smells like a few things! Peppermint? I think that's peppermint. And fresh parchment.'

'You're such a nerd, fresh parchment,' mocked Marinette.

'Hey!' interjected Alya. 'Don't knock it till you've tried it. What does it smell like for you, druggie?'

Marinette rolled her eyes then smiled, replying, 'It smells… radiant, carefree, dreamy.'

'What? Those aren't smells, girl. Don't mess with me. Spill!'

Marinette leaned her elbows on the desk, placing her face in her hands and said dreamily, 'Basically if the essence of Adrien could be distilled into perfume, it would smell like this.'

'It smells like Adrien in a bottle to you?' asked Alya with an eyebrow raised.

'A-huh!'

'You've got it so bad.'

'A-huh!' repeated Marinette, no trace of penitence in her expression.

'Oh, Marinette,' said Alya, somehow managing to express both fondness and exasperation in the three syllables of her name. 'Lucky I think he likes you. He's just too dense to realise.'

'Sure…' replied Marinette, a dreamy far-away look in her eyes. She stayed that way for a whole minute, lost in fantasies until Alya nudged her back into reality by poking her from across the table. After the poke, Marinette only grinned in response and tucked her vial of potion back into her robes before turning her attention back to her study notes.

* * *

Gingerly, Marinette stepped into the hospital wing looking for a bed with a blonde head lying in it. She had heard from Nino that Adrien had gotten into a quidditch accident during a lunch-time quidditch practice and she had a free period in the afternoon so she went to visit him. When she located him, the sunlight streaming through the window creating a golden halo around his blonde hair, she walked up to his bed and realised that he was asleep.

He looked so peaceful. She gazed wistfully at him, hoping that his injuries weren't bad and that he'd be okay.

They'd become better friends. Between his training and assistance as she attempted to make the quidditch team and weekly patrol she'd gotten so much better at being more normal around him. Her romantic feelings aside, she truly considered him one of her closest friends and she thought maybe he felt the same way. She hoped he felt the same way.

She pulled up a chair to sit by his bedside. He didn't stir when she spoke out loud. 'I hope you get better soon, Adrien.' She continued, 'Quidditch is such a brutal game. I really don't know why you like it so much.'

One of his eyebrows furrowed a little but she didn't notice as she was staring out into the sunshine. She could see the offending quidditch pitch from the Hospital Wing.

'Maybe it helps that you're pretty good at it.' She giggled and turned to face him again. She took the opportunity to admire the shape of his face and the serene expression he had while asleep. His quidditch uniform peaked from above the white hospital blanket and she pulled the blanket up to tuck him in better. He reminded her of that muggle fairytale her mother had read to her once. Sleeping Beauty. He was a sleeping beauty. Weren't sleeping beauties supposed to be awoken by true love's kiss? Marinette giggled, unconsciously pressing her hand to her lips as she thought about kissing him.

His lips look really soft. 'I would kiss you in a heartbeat, Adrien Agreste,' she declared softly.

She noticed part of his fringe had blown across his face and she slowly stroked it back into place. His hair was so smooth. 'But only if you wanted me to.' She sighed and withdrew her hand, looking at the time. If he wasn't awake, perhaps she should go study during her break. Her wishing him well wasn't really going to help him. She stood up and smiled softly at his beatific face and brought her face really close to his to whisper at his sleeping figure. 'I love you, Adrien.'

As she leaned over, something light fell with a soft thunk onto the bed - but Marinette didn't notice because at the exact same time Adrien's eyelids fluttered.

She instantly reverted to panic mode. Had he heard her? Had he noticed her touching his hair? HOW MUCH HAD HE HEARD? Screw that, it was all bad. She wasn't ready to confess to him. She wasn't even wearing her lucky socks for crying out loud. She wasn't going to wreck their friendship with her awkward unrequited pining. Resolute that escape was the best option, she exited post haste, scampering away from the hospital wing as fast as she could. She didn't look back behind her. And didn't notice a certain contraband item missing from her person all day as she resolutely told herself to think Adrien-free thoughts to avoid reliving her embarrassment.

As it was, when Adrien Agreste awoke a few moments after Marinette left, he noticed a small vial left on his bedside. Assuming it was medicine left by Madame Pomfrey, he opened the vial and his senses were immediately filled with the most seductive scent he had ever had the pleasure of inhaling. It smelt like freshly baked bread, wood polish on a new broomstick, and somehow also reminded him of Marinette. He downed it in one swallow. Nestling back into the covers, he soon fell back asleep, and when he dreamed his dreams were full of a girl with dark-haired pigtails and vivid blue eyes, softly caressing his face and whispering to him that she would kiss him in a heartbeat… if only he asked for it. His dream-self closed his eyes and puckered his lips in response. If only she knew.

* * *

Nino walked into the hospital wing after his afternoon class to visit his friend. He saw Adrien's familiar figure sitting up in a bed in a corner of the hospital wing. Adrien looked kind of pensive when he approached. 'Hey dude. How ya feeling?'

Ignoring his question completely, Adrien's eyebrows were knitted with a steely resolve when he demanded, 'Where is she, Nino?'

'Where is … who?' asked Nino, not following.

'My love!'

'… Me?'

'No.' Adrien bit out, a pout now adorning his features.

Nino chuckled briefly at Adrien's dramatics. 'Last time I checked, you didn't have a girlfriend. Has that changed in the 3 hours you've been in the hospital wing?'

'No,' Adrien repeated, but sadder this time and reminiscent to Nino of a kitten that had just been kicked.

'Does your love go by a name?' Nino tried asking.

Adrien took a big breath and then -

'Her hair is black as night  
Her pretty bluebell eyes…'

Nino rolled his eyes. 'You've officially lost it, you're spouting poetry now.'

'I wonder what you're thinking  
Your funny phrases a surprise...'

'Mystery girl is funny!' Nino interjected. 'We dig a girl with a sense of humour.'

After being quelled by a stern look from Adrien, the poem continued:

'Every day we see each other  
And I hope that you'll be mine  
Together our love could be so true  
Please, will you be my Valentine?'

'11/10 mate. Didn't know you could be so lyrical.'

In response, Adrien groaned in frustration. 'She is the love of my life, Nino! Do not withhold from me her whereabouts for a moment longer. I am in the depths of despair. I could drown in an ocean of my tears.'

Nino watched in alarm as a single solitary tear did indeed streak down Adrien's cheek.

With a soulful tone, Adrien asked, 'Where is my Marinette?'

'Marinette?!' Nino hiccuped once, twice and then laughter erupted out of him like a gale. Wiping away a tear that found its way onto his cheek due to all his mirth and noting Adrien had gone back to his kitty that had been kicked expression, Nino grinned to himself. This guy on meds is hilarious. Alya's gotta see this.

* * *

'Hi sunshine boy, how are you doing?' Alya announced her presence in Adrien's corner of the hospital wing an hour or so after Nino's departure with her usual greeting for him.

'Terribly,' Adrien croaked.

He did indeed look terrible. All pale and sickly. 'Aren't they treating you well here?' she asked.

'Madame Pomfrey won't release me until I've taken my final dose of skelegrow after dinner,' he replied.

'But why are you in such a hurry to leave?' Alya wondered out loud. Nino had come to her straight from his visit to Adrien, his eyes almost in tears with laughter. He was all, "you've got to" (laugh) "visit" (more laughs) "Adrien" (hiccup from all the laughter) "in the hospital wing!" Then Nino had added "Bring Marinette! WAIT! Don't bring Marinette. Visit yourself first," before laughing some more and insisting the reason he was laughing would be self-explanatory upon visiting.

'I want to run away into the night and see my princess,' Adrien declared with a far-off look in his eyes.

'Oh?' Alya wasn't really sure there was a response to that. Is this what had Nino in stitches? Adrien in love?

Adrien continued, his eyes closing as he began reciting:

'Hair as dark as midnight  
Eyes the colour of the sky  
With her my heart takes flight  
I don't need a broom to fly.'

'You certainly are already pretty high. On,' Alya looked at the bottle of medicine on his nightstand containing his last dosage - 'skelegrow it seems.'

'Alya,' his disposition changed, opening his eyes and narrowing them at her like she was prey and he was on a hunt. 'You are Marinette's best friend.'

'Yes.'

'I need to know all about her so I can love her fully. What's her favourite colour?'

Ah, thought Alya to herself. Nino would think that this was funny. She'd recently let him in on some of the harebrained schemes she had thought of with Marinette to get the two dorks together. Nino still couldn't believe Marinette - unathletic, clumsy, almost got knocked out when trying to levitate the broomstick from the ground during her first quidditch lesson Marinette - actually tried to join the Slytherin quidditch team all in the name of love. 'Pink,' she replied aloud.

'What's her favourite subject?'

'Potions.'

'When is her birthday?'

'July 9.'

'What does she dream about?'

Alya mentally edited out the 'you' that first came to mind. 'She's pretty passionate about fashion design actually. Marrying muggle and wizarding styles together.'

And completely serious, Adrien then asked, 'How do I unlock the secret to her heart?'

Alya grinned. Pep talk mode was her specialty. She'd had loads of practice with Marinette. 'You've just gotta be brave Adrien! You gotta go up to her and tell her! Make your feelings super clear, leave no room for ambiguity or doubt! And when you know for certain that she reciprocates, that's when you go in for a kiss.'

'A kiss? Kissing Marinette?' Adrien sighed happily. The sunshine child was back. 'Thank you for your advice Alya! You're the best!' He paused, 'The second best, behind Marinette,' he amended hastily.

But she wasn't going to let him off the hook so easily. 'One more thing sunshine boy, what brought this on? What made you realise you have feelings for Marinette now?'

'I just realised today that she is the most beautiful girl I have ever beheld,' he said, smiling soppily. 'Her smile makes me go weak, her walk is so graceful. Her lips are so lovely. I can't wait for hers to meet mine.' He smiled contentedly to himself. 'And have you seen the way she handles a broomstick? She's so fit Alya, like I'm only human -'

Alya had to stop him there. She did not need to hear him lusting over her girlfriend. 'Okay, okay, Adrien I got it. You love her. Go tell her!' She started to turn away to leave him but turned back one more time to add, 'And take your skelegrow. Get better soon!'

* * *

The next day, Marinette was eating lunch at the Great Hall, hoping Adrien was feeling better and still feeling awkward about her visit the day before. She was lost in her own thoughts, not really noticing that the peas in her plate were getting a little squashed as she moved them around her plate absentmindedly. The quiet buzz of conversation around her fell silent and she looked up from her plate with surprise.

'Marinette?'

She turned behind her. Adrien Agreste had walked over from the Hufflepuff table and was calling out her name. This was too much! This was terrible. He must know. He must've heard. She heard whispers around her.

'It's Adrien Agreste - the model!'

'What's he doing at the Slytherin table?'

'OMG it's Valentine's Day - you think he fell in love with a Slytherin?'

'Oh - he's talking to that fifth-year prefect, Dupain-Cheng.'

'I have something to say to you,' he said, cutting across all of the bubbling whispers.

He opened his mouth to continue, and alarmed, Marinette sprung up from her seat, discarding her lunch and reached up to press a hand over his mouth. She really didn't want to get rejected in front of her whole house. Chloe wasn't around yet but she could be coming down any second. With her hand covering his mouth, she realised she was being a tad dramatic and removed her hand mouth quickly. 'Maybe we could go somewhere a bit more private?' she suggested.

Adrien nodded in response, unbothered and they walked out of the Great Hall to an empty corridor away from the throng of students meandering their way to lunch.

'Ok, I'm ready,' said Marinette, and although she wanted to close her eyes to soften the inevitable rejection, a secondary instinct brought on by the quidditch training was like NO when your life is on the line you must pay THE MOST ATTENTION and so she looked unhappily up at him, noticing the little golden flecks in his brilliant green eyes up close.

'My Princess,' he picked up one of her hands to press a kiss to it and elegantly bow. 'Would you make a prince out of this green-eyed frog and please be my valentine today?'

Wait, what?

Then he said, 'If you were a dementor, I'd be your willing victim.'

She could only blink in response.

'I love you Marinette. I have loved you since I don't know when. I love you so much. My every waking breath is consumed by thoughts of you. My dreams are all about you - your smile, your laugh, your lips…'

He stepped forward, an arm outstretched towards her but she took a step back, raising both hands up to stop him. When he stopped moving, she patted the left pocket of her robe, and horror dawned on her face as she realised her amortentia vial was gone.

'Adrien' - she placed a hand on his chest, fingertips sinking softly into the fabric of his soft Hufflepuff jumper and feeling a touch of the well-muscled chest beneath. No Marinette, not the time, not the time. This wasn't really him meaning the things anyway.

'Yes, Princess?' He looked at her with his heart in his eyes, and a super soft smile on his lips.

'I can't.' She tore her gaze away from him and backed up a few steps. 'I'm so sorry, Adrien! I've got to go!'

He looked at her with confusion, and she saw his countenance drop as he seemed to process the rejection. She felt awful - like she had just kicked a kitten. And it was her fault for getting him into this mess in the first place. She dashed around the corner, on her way to Mendeleiev's classroom to ask for an antidote and fess up to her thievery. She was a prefect now. Reaching out for help, even if it meant admitting her original mistake, was the right thing to do. When she arrived, huffing and puffing, into the classroom Professor Mendeleiev told her the antidote would be available in a few hours, and Marinette readily agreed to pick it up before patrol and she was so grateful she was ready to accept any punishment that came to her for stealing the potion from class. But instead of losing house points, having her prefect badge taken away and getting detention for the rest of her time at Hogwarts as she expected, Professor Mendeleiev only cryptically told her 'Love makes fools of us all,' and shook her head at her while gesturing for her to leave. Confused but grateful, Marinette shut the door to the classroom behind her, making a mental note to be back for the antidote later that night.

While Marinette was running towards the potions classroom, Adrien had gone back to his dormitory to sulk at his rejection for the remainder of the lunch period. He was stroking Plagg's soft fur, bottom lip wobbling as he remembered Marinette's retreating figure as she literally fled from his presence. Why would the princess run away so? Did she truly not reciprocate his feelings? Did she truly not love him? Plagg rubbed the side of his head against Adrien's head as he lay on his four-poster bed, staring at the top of it and feeling morose. He lay like that for a while and was going to be content to lay like that for the rest of the day until Plagg sat on his face.

Laughing, and with a face full of fur, Adrien pushed his cat off of him and sat up on his bed, shaking his head to clear it a little.

With surprise, he noticed some moisture in his eyes and wiped it away. Had he been crying? Because … wait, Marinette rejected him? A conversation came to mind, something about him telling her if she was a dementor he'd still want to kiss her anyway. His face burned with embarrassment.

Then he remembered the hospital wing. Nino was laughing at him so much he was almost crying and Alya also was visiting him and giving him a pep talk to confess. With a groan he closed his eyes as he remembered reciting poetry about Marinette to both Nino and Alya. He thought Adrien the poet had died when his last attempts at creativity had been ripped up and eaten by Plagg. Unfortunately not.

At the hospital wing, he remembered coming to from a dream about Marinette and picking up a potion on his bed. Oh. He realised suddenly. That must've been amortentia, like what they brewed in class earlier that week. He recalled the mother-of-pearl sheen and the seductive scent of bread, wood polish, and… Marinette? As far as he could tell, he had just spent the past 24 hours completely obsessed with his Slytherin friend. He felt his ears burning red as he recalled some of the things he said to her. Love - he's pretty sure he threw that around candidly. Perhaps also tried to kiss her. He spoke a lot about kissing her. And dreaming about her soft lips.

It must've been Marinette's amortentia potion. He had thought it was medicine, but she must have dropped it accidentally.

But could all of his actions of the past day really be just because of the potion? It wasn't a lie that he thought she was amazing. She always stood for what was right and was such a good prefect - no wonder Dumbledore chose her. She was also super thoughtful of others. Adrien had noticed her covering for Kim's prefect shifts whenever it clashed with his quidditch practice, especially in the lead up to the Gryffindor and Slytherin match. She always just put her name down and didn't ask anyone else for help - just stepping right up to the task and helping out where she saw a need. She did this even though the Slytherin quidditch team did a dirty on her and didn't let her tryout. Even though she had spent weeks practising with Adrien and getting pretty good at getting quaffles past even him, the Hufflepuff keeper… And she was so talented! Her creativity and resourcefulness led to an incredible Halloween Party - her designs for the pumpkins and the Great Hall decor were beyond anything he had ever seen before, in all his years of Beauxbatons and photoshoots and sets at Gabriel. She was like a real professional. And she was so good at potions. She was the only one in class that day to successfully brew amortentia. He recalled her flushed little smile when Professor Mendeleiev complimented her potion work.

Before the potion, he already had thought Marinette was super kind, thoughtful, and pretty. But he hadn't ever considered kissing her before. Now that the idea had occurred, it was like a melody that he couldn't get out of his head. His mind ran through scenarios of their interactions together. He remembered how she pressed her hand against his lips to shush him in the Great Hall, how she looked up at him from under her eyelashes mouth curved in an indulgent smile when he told her another terrible quidditch pun during their training together.

Wasn't the potion supposed to fade? He was thinking lucidly now. He was thinking clearly enough to be right mortified by the way he tried to confess to her in the middle of lunch at the Great Hall on Valentine's Day. Why was she still in his head? Could it be because his feelings for her existed before the amortentia? Could it be that he had always felt feelings towards her more than friendship but hadn't realised until the compulsion effect of amortentia forced him to take a break from his busy life and consider his love life (or lack thereof)?

The dream-Marinette he remembered whispered to him that she would like to kiss him and he gulped, warmth colouring his cheeks as he realised how he would very much like to be kissed by his very good friend, Marinette. So, yes. He could admit, to himself at least, there was a strong possibility he had feelings for Marinette before the love potion, had those feelings amplified into some kind of crazy obsession during the potion, and had those romantic feelings which were previously seedlings in an unexplored part of his brain bloom into a garden of flowers colouring his world beautiful even after the effects of the potion had worn off.

But then he grimaced, remembering her running away from his declaration of love a few hours ago. In any case, Adrien decided resolutely, Marinette deserved an apology. He'd come on too strong. He hadn't been entirely himself. He could only hope that his chances would be better without amortentia addling his senses. But even if it was too late, even if she didn't see him that way, he hoped he hadn't wrecked their friendship beyond repair. If the amortentia accident and soul-searching had revealed anything to him this afternoon, it was that Marinette was an amazingly talented witch and he'd be a lucky guy if she would remain in his life, even if just as a friend. He couldn't repress the nervous flutter that sprung up in his heart when he remembered it was still Valentine's Day, and Friday nonetheless. It was his weekly patrol shift with Marinette. Plagg nudged his side with his head, demanding his attention, and Adrien reached over to pet his black fur. May Merlin's marvellous moustache have mercy on his smitten soul.

* * *

With her feet unable to stay still, and her hand clasped around the antidote in her pocket, Marinette waited anxiously at their usual 9 PM meeting spot, when her and Adrien would begin to patrol together. She was determined, so determined to do the right thing and give him the antidote immediately. She couldn't bear for his feelings towards her to be false, had never meant to give him a dose of the love potion itself, and was feeling really quite wretched about the whole amortentia accident.

When his blonde head appeared around the corner, she hastily thrust at him the antidote.

'Adrien, I'm so sorry about the love potion! I lost it yesterday and I think you must have taken it by accident. Here is the antidote!' She bent forward, in a bow, closing her eyes and handing him the antidote with two hands.

'Oh,' his hands grasped around the vial that Marinette held outstretched. 'I don't think I need it anymore.'

'What?'

'Yeah,' his hand went to the back of his head to run through the hair at his nape. 'It's worn off. And please don't apologise, Marinette. It's my fault for drinking strange substances in the hospital wing not prescribed by Madame Pomfrey. I honestly thought it was medicine.' His fingers ran some more through the hair at the back of his head as he hunched over slightly, looking away from her in embarrassment. 'I also actually wanted to apologise to you.'

'To me? What for?'

'For my improper behaviour towards you! I am so sorry for how I treated you when we met during lunch. It was too much. I'm really sorry.'

'Oh,' said Marinette, the pinnacle of ineloquence. She shook her head, 'No, it wasn't your fault, you were under the influence of amortentia. I realised you were straight away. You aren't usually that flirty.'

'Yeah,' agreed Adrien, his face going a bit pink. 'Well I can be - if it's to someone that I like,' he admitted.

They stood in the empty corridor, both trying not to look at each other and failing miserably.

'Well done on your potion, by the way,' Adrien offered in an effort to strike up some conversation as he began walking to at least keep up the pretense of the patrol they were supposed to be doing together.

Marinette took a step forward too and soon their steps were synchronised. 'Really?' she asked.

'Yeah, well, it worked,' he winked at her, and Marinette found herself giggling despite her earlier embarrassment.

'Could I ask you a question then, Adrien? Feel free to say no if it's too personal.' Her arms met in a cross in front of her and she waved her hands to emphasise it really would be ok.

But he agreed easily. 'Sure,' he said, glad that they were talking again and that he hadn't lost her as a friend over the whole love potion mishap.

'What does amortentia smell like for you?'

He coughed, taken completely by surprise by the question, and trying to hide his embarrassment. 'Bread. And broom polish?' he ventured.

'Broom polish?' echoed Marinette incredulously, scrunching up her nose in a way that Adrien thought was unfairly cute. 'You like that awful smell?'

'Yeah and well, it also smelt like something else. Something that kind of reminded me of you.'

Marinette levelled her gaze at him, trying to digest his words. That wasn't how love potions were supposed to work. Their scent was supposed to remind you of things that you loved. Already loved. Not of the potion-maker that you were going to obsess over. She noticed with surprise that the tips of his ears she could see underneath his blonde locks had gone a bit pink, matching the blush spreading across his cheeks.

'Of me?' she dumbly echoed.

'I'm actually a little bit grateful for the amortentia accident, because it helped me to realise something,' he replied.

She stopped mid-step and waited for him to finish his sentence on tenterhooks, any pretense of patrol officially abandoned.

He licked his lips, suddenly nervous. 'I really care for you, Marinette. I always have thought you were amazing. And I already put you through this once today when I wasn't in the right mind and it is not my intention to repeat the spectacle I made of myself again tonight but… I would like you to know. Although the amortentia made it come out wrong, I really think you are talented and kind and incredible.' He paused, taking a deep breath before confessing, 'My feelings for you... are genuine.'

Marinette's mouth made a little 'o' of surprise.

When she seemed like she wasn't going to say anything in response, he hastily added, 'But please don't feel obligated to respond to my feelings! I truly respect you. I would love to just be friends - if friendship is all you want from me.'

Marinette shut her mouth and pressed her lips together, joy dancing across her features as she realised what he was saying. It wasn't entirely the amortentia? There were genuine feelings hidden in that awful pick-up line about a dementor's kiss? If pure happiness could be put into a potion vial, it would bring her to this exact moment. She realised she was standing so close to him she could see the gold flecks in his beautiful green eyes again, green eyes that were looking at her and waiting for a response.

'Do you know what amortentia smells like to me, Adrien?'

He shook his head.

'It smells like the burnt sugar of creme brulee and cheese that I think is camembert -'

'Camembert?' he echoed. 'The stinky cheese? Plagg loves that I -' he trailed off, making a disgusted face.

'And,' Marinette continued, her smile widening as she took a step closer towards him, so close to him now that she had to arch her head up to look at him. 'It smells like quidditch training. It smells like potions class when I lean over my cauldron and you've just washed your hair.' She went a little pink at that admission and he gingerly placed a hand on her face and nodded to encourage her to keep going. 'It smells like your jumper.' Then she added, very quietly, 'It smells like you.'

When she finished her declaration, all she could hear was her heartbeat pounding in her chest. She licked her lips and noticed Adrien's eyes follow the motion. His hand caressing her face, she took a shaky breath as he bent towards her slowly and she closed her eyes as his lips met hers.

Their first kiss was soft and gentle. Her hand curled against his jumper as their lips touched so softly. He went to kiss her again, mouth opened slightly and she angled her head to better reciprocate. She gently covered his bottom lip with her own.

Suddenly, he pulled away, and instantly she felt cold from his absence. She missed his hand on her cheek and his breath intermingling with hers.

'Marinette, do you truly care for me, as more than a friend?' He searched her blue-bell eyes for any hint of doubt.

She nodded once and reached up to him, pulling him towards her by placing a hand on his neck and the back of his head to kiss him in reply. As they kissed she opened her mouth and felt his arms wrap around her waist to hold her closer. As the kiss lingered, their movements became more confident and when his tongue touched hers in the French kiss of his people, she responded with equal vigour. Their tongues danced with each other, appreciating each other with slow and lazy movements. Her fingers played with the back of his blonde, soft locks as their lips parted so they could breathe only to meet again like magnets. He tasted even better than he smelled. A low groan escaped from Adrien's lips and he turned his head to deepen their kiss further when a large crash startled both of them. They broke apart, breathing heavily into the torchlit corridor.

Further down the hallway, they noticed in unison that a suit of armour had been knocked down. Sheepishly, Nino stepped outside of the shadows, pulling a grinning Alya with him.

Nino began, 'I'm so sorry, we didn't, I didn't-'

But Alya took one look at the couple, noting their matching blushes and swollen lips. 'HO HO HO LOVER BOY,' she boomed out, 'I CALLED IT!'

* * *

_**Author's Note:**__ This is set in my MLB/HP universe. It is an alternative get-together story to The Ladybug Patronus. The quidditch story (Adrien Agreste is a Keeper) and Miraculous Hogwarts Origin story are like little prequels to this - they flesh out things that have been alluded to briefly in this story!_

_This crossover gives me life, I swear._


End file.
